388 
Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1     August,  1903. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Tests  and  Reagents,  chemical  and  microscopical,  known  by 
their  authors'  names,  together  with  an  index  of  subjects,  compiled 
for  the  use  of  chemists,  microscopists,  pharmacists,  students,  etc. 
By  Alfred  I.  Cohn.  New  York:  John  Wiley  &  Sons.  London: 
Chapman  &  Hall,  Limited. 
This  book  is  in  the  nature  of  a  compilation  from  a  great  number 
of  sources  (the  small  brochures  of  Altschul,  Schneider,  and  Wilder 
having  served  as  a  nucleus),  and,  with  very  numerous  additions, 
was  published  in  a  series  of  monthly  installments  in  Merck's  Report, 
from  March,  1900,  to  September,  1902;  it  is  here  republished  by 
the  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Merck  &  Co.  Since  its  first  appear- 
ance in  serial  form,  however,  the  matter  has  been  further  greatly 
amplified. 
The  compilation  has  been  made  with  a  view  to  supplying  the 
busy  chemist,  microscopist,  and  pharmacist  with  data  which  are 
frequently  desired,  but  which  are  often  either  not  at  hand,  or  inac- 
cessible. The  names  of  authors  are  given  alphabetically,  with 
numerous  cross-references.  The  methods  are  concise  and  unusually 
free  from  ambiguity.  The  index  of  subjects  at  the  end  serves  to 
make  the  book  useful  to  the  investigator  who  wishes  to  make  a  test 
for  a  particular  substance,  the  reagents  of  which  may  not  be  known 
to  him,  or  may  be  forgotten  for  the  time.  The  book  serves  another 
useful  purpose,  and  that  is  to  make  all  more  cautious  of  speaking, 
for  instance,  of  von  Jaksch's  test,  or  Schultze's  reagent,  as  there  are 
at  least  a  half-dozen  tests  or  reagents  known  by  these  names.  It  is 
necessary  to  specify  not  only  the  name  of  the  test,  but  the  uses  to 
which  it  is  applied,  as  "  von  Jaksch's  test  for  sugar  in  urine,"  dis- 
tinguishing it  from  "von  Jaksch's  test  for  uric  acid,"  or  "  Schultze's 
test  for  cellulose,"  distinguishing  it  from  "Schultze's  macerating 
mixture,"  etc.  The  book  will  be  found  to  be  very  valuable  to  the 
pharmacist  and  physician,  as  well  as  chemist  and  biologist. 
A  Text-Book  of  Volumetric  Analysis,  with  special  reference  to 
the  volumetric  processes  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States. 
By  Henry  W.  Schimpf.  With  sixty  illustrations.  Fourth  edition. 
New  York  :  John  Wiley  &  Sons.    London:  Chapman  &  Hall,  Ltd. 
It  is  always  a  pleasure  to  have  in  hand  a  book  which  is  written 
with  a  special  object  and  the  author  of  which  expects  to  reach  a  certain 
